One Small Step
Broken glass and empty bullet cases are scattered on the floor. Children wander around
aimlessly scared by the experience they are currently living. They replay the gory scenes in their
head. They can't forget what they have seen. Anxious parents wait outside hoping and praying
that their child will walk out of the school. Schools shooting are now happening more and more.
People of America would do anything to put an end to school shootings. There is such a small
step that society could take to prevent them. Society just has to enforce school uniforms. If
society enforces school uniforms they can see intruders easier making the school shooting less
likely to happen. This is only one of the many different reasons why school uniforms should be
enforced in the schools. To improve schools, uniforms should be enforced1.
To illustrate, when school uniforms are enforced then students attendance and grades will
increase.2 Masses of kids get bullied each day so they stay home because they don’t want to have
to face their bully. Kids are also constantly fixing and repositioning their outfit thus resulting in
being distracted from their learning. Many kids, “roughly 160,000” stay home from school just
because they fear of attack and or intimidation by other students”.(Emily Morton) 3 When kids
start missing school they miss all the valuable information that there teachers teach them. They
start to fall behind on all their work and after that it is just a slippery slope and its hard to get
their grades back up. If we had school uniforms then kids won’t get bullied on they way that
they dress and then they wouldn’t have to fear being bullied. Not only does bullying causes
falling grades. Students getting distractined by their clothes also causes grade falling.4 School
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uniforms increase student achievement by 64% (NAESP).5 Many students, especially girls, get
distracted by their clothes in class and then they miss what the teacher said. If they started
paying more attention to the lesson instead of their clothes then their grades will go up because
they can take in all the information. School uniforms help kids pay more attention thus
improving their grades and achievements. If all kids start wearing uniforms then they won’t have
to miss class due to distraction and fear.
Likewise, when school uniforms are made mandatory the amount of bullying will
decrease. 6Lots of kids get bullied due to how they dress. If someone doesn’t dress in the newest
fashions then they are automatically labeled as different. Laurie Snider, a parent of a child
attending Union Gap school talks about her son, "Before uniforms, we did have a lot of problems
with bullying and he wasn't happy, but since the uniforms, he's night and day".7 In this case when
Sniders son’s school got school uniforms he was able to dress like all the other kids and no one
bullied him for they way that he dressed because he was wearing what everyone else was
wearing. When school uniforms were made mandatory in schools then the kids didn’t get bullied
anymore they became happier. Never again do they have to eat their lunch in the bathroom.
Never again do they fear coming to school. Never again do they feel like they amount to less
than everyone else. Never again do they do they feel unsafe in the hallways of their own school.
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They can finally feel the weight lifted off their shoulders and they can have a sense of belonging
among their peers. To improve all schools and lift the burden of bullying all students should
wear school uniforms.
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Furthermore to less bullying and an increase in grades and attendance, school uniforms
make schools safer.9 No matter how hard people try they can never make schools safer. If people
enforce school uniforms then they can make schools so much safer ensuring a good learning
atmosphere. Sherry Bowen from EduGuide explains that school uniforms “Decrease the
influence of gangs and gang violence. Uniforms make it more difficult to sneak in weapons, and
easier to ban gang colors or symbols.” 10Many kids like to form gangs. With all these gangs
being created kids start to form enemys. These gangs start tension leading to violence and
potential death. When kids show that they are a part of a certain gang then they become a target
by other students and they also target other students. Kids in gangs are more likely to harm a
student if they do not support their gang. Also, when there isn’t school uniforms kids can sneak
in weapons and they can hurt other students with these weapons. In order to create a safer school
environment school uniforms should be enforced. School uniforms do not permit gang signs and
colors or sneaking in weapons. When these things are banned then students are no longer rivals
creating less violence between pupils. Less violence can also lead to more achievement.11 Karen
Walker of Education Partnership Incorporation states that school uniforms “improves classroom
behavior because they have a sense of safety.”12 School uniforms banish the use of gang colors
and symbols. When these things are banished kids can feel safer in schools. When kids become
safer they can achieve more and do better in their school work. Making uniforms mandatory
benefits every students safety.
Many people think that school uniforms restrict freedom of creativity. It does not restrict
creativity at all. There is so many different ways to be creative it doesn’t just have to be through
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clothing. You can be creative in what you write. You can be creative in what you create in art.
You can be creative in the way you talk. You can be creative in the way you think. You could be
creative in so many different ways. 13Even though kids have to wear the same thing they can
bring some variation to what they are wearing. Vice Principal Si Stuber works at a school that
enforces school uniforms and he says, “black, white and gray shirts have leveled the playing
field and reduced competition between the haves and have-nots.”14 You do get a choice in the
color of your clothes. You can still express creativity through your clothes even though you have
uniforms. You can wear ties, necklaces, scarves, hats, bracelets and so much more. Even with
school uniforms you can still express your creativity through what you wear. And even if you
don’t express creativity through your clothes there is an endless amount of other ways that you
can express creativity. School uniforms do not restrict creativity therefore they should be
enforced in all schools.
No one in the world is the same as anyone else. We are all special in our own ways.
School uniforms create a sense of unity and banishes problems in our school community. Taking
this one little step with help with many problems in our schools. If people wrote a letter to the
school board expressing the need of school uniforms then maybe we will get school uniforms.
The letter should include the many endless benefits of school uniforms. If people spoke at board
of education meetings and expressed their longing for school uniforms the maybe the board of
education might expect it.15 Having school uniforms would make such a positive impact on
everyone. In order to create a better school environment school uniforms should be enforced.
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